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National Museum of American History Names New Board Chairman

December 26, 2005

Richard Darman has been elected chairman of the board of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. His three-year term as chairman of the board becomes effective Jan. 1, 2006. He has been a member of the board since 2000 and currently serves as vice chairman. In 2001, the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents named him chairman of the National Museum of American History Blue Ribbon Commission to advise the museum on future exhibitions and strategic planning. He succeeds H.P. “Pete” Claussen, chairman and CEO of Gulf & Ohio Railways.
Darman is partner and managing director of global private equity firm The Carlyle Group and chairman of the board of the leading global power company AES Corporation. He served as director of the Office of Management and Budget and as a member of the cabinet during the George H.W. Bush administration (1989-1993). He also served as deputy secretary of the treasury (1985-1987) and assistant to the president (1981-1985) during the Reagan administration. He is a former professor at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the author of “Who’s in Control? Polar Politics and the Sensible Center.” Darman now serves as a member of Harvard’s Committee on University Resources and the Overseers’ Committee to Visit the Graduate School of Government and is a trustee of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
The National Museum of American History collects, preserves and displays American heritage through exhibitions and public programs about social, political, cultural, scientific and military history. Documenting the American experience from Colonial times to the present, the museum looks at growth and change in the United States. The museum’s board was established in 1996. It advises the director on programs, exhibitions, facilities, development and finance. The current board has 27 members, including historians, business and community leaders and philanthropists.
The National Museum of American History is located at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue N.W. and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., except Dec. 25. For more information, visit the museum’s Web site at http://americanhistory.si.edu or call (202) 633-1000, (202) 357-1729 (TTY).